NSC Discusses Latest Fleet Safety Training Program, Future Plans – Safety

The National Safety Council (NSC) recently announced it’s launching the Fleet Essentials training program, a series of online courses that employers can educate their drivers.

Driving is the leading reason behind work-related deaths yearly, based on the NSC, and Mark Chung, executive vice chairman of roadway practice, said the organization is working to eliminate the leading causes of preventable death and injury, focusing its efforts on the workplace and roadway.

“Fleet safety is the crossover between workplace and roadway, and we’re thrilled to launch this training program to assist employers educate all employees whose jobs require them to be behind the wheel to best ensure everyone makes it home safely each time,” Chung said.

Goals of the NSC Fleet Essentials Training Program

In line with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, greater than 2,000 people died because of this of occupational transportation incidents in 2022, making up 37.7% percent of the overall occupational fatalities that 12 months.

Chung shared that the goal of this system from the NSC’s perspective is to diminish that number, ultimately to zero, and save lives.

Drivers who shouldn’t have their Business Driver’s License but are required to drive any vehicle for work might not be considered fleet or skilled drivers by their employers and will subsequently lack formal training, based on the NSC. That’s as many as 15.5 million drivers within the U.S. who might not be properly trained to operate a vehicle on the job. 

Delivery truck drivers and sales employees have the best rates of injuries and fatalities amongst all occupations, each of whom are non-CDL drivers.

The “alarming gap in training” is the most important challenge within the industry, based on Chung.

“A fleet driver is any worker who drives while on the job, comparable to truck and delivery drivers but in addition salespeople, tradespeople, the news media, all of which drive to a destination to perform their job function. This makes getting all of those people trained on things comparable to vehicle dynamics, driving professionally, and distraction awareness unique to driving for work quite literally essential to their safety,” he said. 

The NSC Fleet Essentials training program includes courses for passenger vehicles, delivery vans, and medium-duty trucks. The training program also addresses topics comparable to vehicle dynamics, driving professionally, and distraction awareness unique to driving for work. 

Training Program Courses

• Driving Professionally: A 20-minute online course that helps fleet drivers understand key characteristics of driving professionally and recognize the importance of organization representation and liability while driving. The course explores the difference between driving for private profit versus driving in the midst of your work. 
• Vehicle Dynamics: A forty five-minute online course that helps drivers understand their vehicle’s capabilities and limitations and the way the physical forces of inertia, gravity, and velocity affect it. Participants also learn why it’s important to avoid dangerous maneuvers and the way to avoid them.
• Distracted Fleet Driver: A 20-minute online course that reminds fleet drivers that they can not drive safely unless they’re attentive, alert, and engaged. Participants learn why it’s essential to stay distraction-free and the way to minimize distractions while driving. This course reviews the science of distracted driving, reveals myths about multitasking, and covers the damaging effects of distracted driving for the fleet driver.

The NSC plans to roll out more modules in the approaching months and years to best address the challenges employers face in keeping employees secure on every job site, including the roadways.